U.S. patent number 6,377,294 [Application Number 09/096,213] was granted by the patent office on 2002-04-23 for electronic photographing device.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Nobuhide Dotsubo, Toshinobu Haruki, Hideto Hayashi, Toshiyuki Toyofuku, Masafumi Yamasaki.
United States Patent |
6,377,294 |
Toyofuku , et al. |
April 23, 2002 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Electronic photographing device
Abstract
According to this invention, an electronic photographing device
in which image information corresponding to one set of images
photographed by panoramic photographing can be recorded on a
recording medium includes: a rotation direction setting device for
setting information corresponding to a rotation direction of the
electronic photographing device in the panorama photographing; a
rotation direction recording device for recording information
corresponding to the rotation direction set by the rotation
direction setting device on the recording medium; a control device
for controlling an arrangement of the set of panoramic images on
the basis of the information corresponding to the rotation
direction recorded on the recording medium; and a display device
for displaying the set of panoramic images arranged by the control
device.
Inventors: |
Toyofuku; Toshiyuki (Hachioji,
JP), Yamasaki; Masafumi (Hachioji, JP),
Dotsubo; Nobuhide (Daito, JP), Haruki; Toshinobu
(Kyotanabe, JP), Hayashi; Hideto (Daito,
JP) |
Assignee: |
Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
(JP)
|
Family
ID: |
15641840 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/096,213 |
Filed: |
June 11, 1998 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 13, 1997 [JP] |
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9-157081 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
348/36 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
1/0044 (20130101); H04N 1/00442 (20130101); H04N
1/00453 (20130101); H04N 1/2112 (20130101); H04N
1/2125 (20130101); H04N 1/215 (20130101); H04N
1/32128 (20130101); H04N 2101/00 (20130101); H04N
2201/218 (20130101); H04N 2201/3214 (20130101); H04N
2201/3226 (20130101); H04N 2201/3247 (20130101); H04N
2201/3252 (20130101); H04N 2201/3253 (20130101); H04N
2201/3254 (20130101); H04N 2201/3277 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04N
1/21 (20060101); H04N 007/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;348/36,37,39
;396/20,84,378 ;382/154 ;352/69 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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403130756 |
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Jun 1991 |
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JP |
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406189180 |
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Jul 1994 |
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JP |
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408304866 |
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Nov 1996 |
|
JP |
|
9-62861 |
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Mar 1997 |
|
JP |
|
409116795 |
|
May 1997 |
|
JP |
|
9-266561 |
|
Oct 1997 |
|
JP |
|
Other References
Dalton, J., "Digital Cameras and Electronic Color Image
Acquisition", Compcon 96: Technology for the Information
Superhighway, Feb. 1996..
|
Primary Examiner: Le; Vu
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Ostrolenk, Faber, Gerb &
Soffen, LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An electronic camera comprising:
image producing means for producing image information corresponding
to a first image of a set of images of an object photographed in a
panoramic photographing mode;
a recording medium for recording said first image of said set of
images;
rotation direction setting means for setting information
corresponding to a rotation direction of said electronic camera
during the panoramic photographing of a second image of said set of
images;
rotation direction recording means for recording information
corresponding to the rotation direction set by said rotation
direction setting means on said recording medium;
recording control means for recording said second image of said set
of images on said recording medium and information indicating a
relative positional relationship between said first and second
images of said set of images when a relative positional
relationship between said first and second images has been
established;
control means for arranging said first and second images on the
basis of the information corresponding to the rotation direction
recorded on said recording medium; and
display means for displaying said first and second images arranged
by said control means and said information indicating the relative
positional relationship between said first and second images of
said set of images.
2. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said display
means superimposes an index indicating at least one of the rotation
direction and a rotation angle of said electronic camera during
panoramic photographing on a displayed panoramic image.
3. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the rotation
direction recording means records the information representing the
rotation direction as a header for each image in the set of
panoramic images.
4. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said rotation
direction setting means manually sets the rotation direction by
manual input.
5. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising a
rotation angle detection means for detecting a rotation angle and
the rotation direction, wherein said rotation direction setting
means automatically sets the information corresponding to the
rotation direction on the basis of an output from the rotation
angle detection means.
6. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said rotation
direction setting means automatically sets the rotation
direction.
7. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said display
means is a display screen capable of being divided into a plurality
of sub-screens to display each image in the set of panoramic images
in a photographing order.
8. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said display
means is a display screen configured to be divided into a plurality
of sub-screens to sequentially display each image in the set of
panoramic images on the sub-screens according to the information
corresponding to the rotation direction recorded on said recording
medium.
9. An electronic camera according to claim 8, wherein said display
means either horizontally or perpendicularly displays the images in
the set of panoramic images in a center portion of the screen in
one line of sub-screens.
10. An electronic photographing device comprising:
an image producing element that produces image information
corresponding to a first image of a set of images of an object
photographed in a panoramic photographing mode;
a rotation information recording element that stores a rotation
direction and a rotation angle of the electronic photographing
device during the panoramic photographing of a second image of the
set of images;
a recording control element that records the second image and
information indicating a relative positional relationship between
the first and second images of the set of images when a relative
positional relationship between the first and second images has
been established;
a controller that controls arrangement of the first and second
images in accordance with the recorded rotation direction; and
a display element that displays the first and second images
arranged by the controller and the information indicating the
relative positional relationship between the first and second
images of the set of images.
11. An electronic photographing device according to claim 10,
further in combination with a detachable recording medium which is
removably insertable into the camera body, and wherein the rotation
information recording element is configured to record the rotation
direction and the rotation angle on the detachable recording
means.
12. An electronic photographing device according to claim 10,
wherein the display element is configured to superimpose an index
indicating at least one of the rotation direction and the rotation
angle.
13. An electronic photographing device according to claim 10,
wherein the display element is configured to display the set of
images simultaneously thereon, the set of images being
simultaneously displayed in an order of sequence according to the
recorded rotation direction.
14. An electronic photographing device according to claim 10,
further comprising at least one operation element for manually
inputting the rotation direction to the rotation information
recording element.
15. An electronic photographing device according to claim 10,
further comprising an angular velocity sensor for automatically
obtaining the rotation direction and rotation angle during
panoramic photographing.
16. An electronic photographing device according to claim 15,
further comprising an acceleration sensor for detecting a rotation
velocity of the electronic photographing device during panoramic
photographing and for preventing blurring of an image as it is
being photographed in panoramic mode.
17. An electronic camera in which image information corresponding
to one set of images photographed by panorama photographing is
recorded on a recoding medium, said electronic camera
comprising:
image producing means for producing image information of an object
to be photographed;
a recording medium for recording thereon a first image and a second
image obtained by said image producing means;
correlation operation means for detecting a degree of coincidence
between a region at an end of said second image and a region at an
end of said first image;
display means for displaying that said degree of coincidence is
within an allowable range;
recording control means for recording said second image on said
recording medium when said degree of coincidence is within said
allowable range;
rotation direction setting means for setting information
corresponding to a rotating direction of said electronic camera
between said first image and said second image;
rotation direction recording means for recording said information
corresponding to the rotating direction set by said rotating
direction setting means on said recording medium; and
control means for arranging said first image and said second image
on said display means on the basis of said information
corresponding to said rotating direction recorded on said recording
medium.
18. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein an index
indicating said rotating direction of said electronic camera during
said panorama photographing is superimposed on said display
means.
19. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein said
information corresponding to said rotating direction is recorded as
a header of each image.
20. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein said
rotating direction setting means manually sets said rotating
direction.
21. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein said
rotating direction setting means automatically sets said
information corresponding to said rotating direction on the basis
of an output from a rotating angle detection means.
22. A electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein said
rotating direction setting means automatically sets a predetermined
rotating direction.
23. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein said
display means includes a screen which is divided into a plurality
of part for displaying said first and second images in the order
photographed.
24. An electronic camera according to claim 17, wherein said
display means includes a screen which is divided into a plurality
of parts for displaying said first and second images sequentially
based on said information corresponding to said rotating direction
recorded on said recording medium.
25. An electronic photographing device, comprising:
an image information producing element which produces image
information corresponding to a first image and a second image of an
object photographed in a panoramic photographing mode;
a correlation detector which detects a relative positional
relationship between the first image and the second image of the
object; and
a recording control element operable to record the second image of
the object when the relative positional relationship between the
first image and the second image has been detected, wherein the
first image and the second image utilize the same distance
measurement information, photometric information and white balance
information during photographing of the object.
26. An electronic photographing device according to claim 25,
wherein the recording control element further records information
indicating the relative positional relationship between the first
image and the second image.
27. An electronic photographing device according to claim 26,
further comprising a rotation information recording element that
stores a rotation direction and a rotation angle between the first
image and the second image.
28. An electronic photographing device according to claim 27,
further comprising at least one manual input element operable to
manually input rotation direction to the rotation information
recording element.
29. An electronic photographing device according to claim 27,
further comprising an angular direction sensor that automatically
obtains the rotation direction and the rotation angle.
30. An electronic photographing device according to claim 29,
further comprising an acceleration sensor that detects a rotation
velocity of the electronic photographing device and operates to
prevent the production of the image information if the rotation
velocity is above a predefined limit.
31. An electronic photographing device according to claim 27,
further comprising a display that displays the first and second
images.
32. An electronic photographing device according to claim 31,
wherein the display further displays the information indicating the
relative positional relationship between the first image and the
second image.
33. An electronic photographing device according to claim 31,
further comprising a controller that controls arrangement of the
first image and the second image on the display in accordance with
the recoded rotation direction.
34. An electronic photographing device according to claim 25,
wherein the correlation detector detects the relative positional
relationship by comparing a region of the first image to a region
of the second image.
35. An electronic photographing device according to claim 34,
wherein the region of the first image is compared to the region of
the second image to detect a degree of coincidence
therebetween.
36. An electronic photographing device according to claim 25,
further comprising a recording medium configured to record the
image information corresponding to the first image and the second
image.
37. An electronic photographing device according to claim 36,
wherein the recording medium is detachable from the electronic
photographing device.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic photographing device
capable of panorama photographing.
2. Related Art Statement
Conventionally, a photographing device capable of panorama
photographing has been proposed. However, in a conventional
panorama photographing device, information related to a rotation
direction of a camera in panorama photographing is not recorded.
For this reason, when one set of panoramic images are displayed or
printed, a cumbersome process is required to arrange the panoramic
images. Even if the information about the arrangement is recorded,
the information requires a complex operation and is not easily
used.
In a prior art, the photographing device is independent of a
display device for displaying a panoramic image which is
photographed by the photographing device, and the photographed
image cannot be easily checked immediately after photographing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an electronic photographing device
which is capable of easily checking a photographed panoramic
image.
The present invention also provides an electronic photographing
device in which image data photographed by panoramic photographing
and information related to a rotation direction of a camera
corresponding to the image data are recorded on a recording medium
as header information, and the photographed panoramic image is
displayed in an appropriate arrangement and an appropriate
arrangement direction on the screen of a display device arranged on
the camera by using the information recorded o the recording
medium.
In short, an electronic photographing device in which image
information corresponding to one set of images photographed by
panoramic photographing can be recorded on a recording medium
comprises:
a rotation direction setting device for setting information
corresponding to a rotation direction of the electronic
photographing device in the panorama photographing;
a rotation direction recording device for recoding information
corresponding to the rotation direction set by the rotation
direction setting device on the recording medium;
a control device for controlling an arrangement of the one set of
panorama images on the basis of the information corresponding to
the rotation direction recorded on the recording medium; and
a display device for displaying the one set of panoramic images
arranged by the control device.
These advantages of the present invention will become further
apparent from the following detailed explanation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of an electronic
photographing device according to the first and second preferred
embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the appearance of the electronic
photographing device according to the first and second preferred
embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the
electronic photographing device according to the first and second
preferred embodiments when viewed from the rear surface side of the
electronic photographing device.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a state wherein the electronic
photographing device according to the first and second preferred
embodiments of the present invention is connected to a personal
computer, a digital recorder, and a printer.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an entire electronic arrangement
of the electronic photographing device according to the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a recording format of the image information corresponding
to a one-frame recorded on the recording medium of the electronic
photographing device according to the first and second preferred
embodiments of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the flow of the entire operation of
the electronic photographing device according to the preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an initial setting operation of a
photographing mode in the electronic photographing device according
to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing an operation of setting the number
of panorama-photographed frames of one set (the predictive number
of panorama-photographed frames) in the electronic photographing
device according the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the flow of photographing
operations of the electronic photographing device according to the
first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the flow of the entire operation of
an editing mode serving as a sub-mode of a panorama mode in the
electronic photographing device according to the first preferred
embodiment of the present embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the flow of the entire operation of
an erase mode serving as a sub-mode of the editing mode in the
electronic photographing device according to the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the flow of the entire operation of
a protect mode serving as a sub-mode of the editing mode in the
electronic photographing device according to the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the flow of the entire operation of
a print mode serving as a sub-mode of the editing mode in the
electronic photographing device according to the first preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of the sub-mode of the panorama mode is
performed in the electronic photographing device according to the
first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 16A is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of a rotation direction of a camera in
panorama photographing is performed in the electronic photographing
device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 16B is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of a rotation direction of a camera in
panorama photographing is performed in the electronic photographing
device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 16C is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of a rotation direction of a camera in
panorama photographing is performed in the electronic photographing
device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 17A is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of a rotation direction of a camera in
panorama photographing is performed in the electronic photographing
device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 17B is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of a rotation direction of a camera in
panorama photographing is performed in the electronic photographing
device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 17C is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when a camera is rotated in a selected direction in a
panorama photographing using the electronic photographing device
according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 18 is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of the number of photographed frames in
panorama photographing is performed in the electronic photographing
device according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 19 is a view showing a display example of a liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of the sub-mode of the editing mode is
performed in the electronic photographing device according to the
first preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 20A is a view showing a display example in which a
multi-divided photographed image is displayed on the liquid-crystal
display unit in the erase mode serving as a sub-mode of the editing
mode in the electronic photographing device according to the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 20B is a view showing a display example of which a
multi-divided photographed image is displayed on the liquid-crystal
display unit in the erase mode serving as a sub-mode of the editing
mode in the electronic photographing device according to the first
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 21A is a view showing an example in which only a panoramic
image is displayed at the central portion of the screen of the
liquid-crystal display unit in the erase mode serving as a sub-mode
of the editing mode in the electronic photographing device
according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 21B is a view showing an example in which only a panoramic
image is displayed at the central portion of the screen of the
liquid-crystal display unit in the erase mode serving as a sub-mode
of the editing mode in the electronic photographing device
according to the first preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
FIG. 22 is a view showing a display example of the liquid-crystal
display unit when selection of a sub-mode of the protect mode
serving as a sub-mode of the editing mode in the electronic
photographing device according to the first preferred embodiment of
the present invention.
FIG. 23 is a view showing an example in which an image to be
printed is selected by a circular flicker display in the print mode
serving as a sub-mode of the editing mode in the electronic
photographing device according to the first preferred embodiment in
the present invention.
FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing an entire electric arrangement
of the electronic photographing device according to the second
preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 25 is a view showing an example in which a rotation direction
of a camera is displayed on the liquid-crystal display unit in
panorama photographing of the electronic photographing device
according to the second preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
A first preferred embodiment of the present invention will be
described below.
The entire arrangement and operation of an electronic photographing
device (to be referred to as a "camera" hereinafter) according to
this embodiment will be described below.
FIGS. 1 to 3 are views showing the appearance of the camera, in
which FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a side view, and FIG. 3 is
a perspective view showing the camera when viewed from the rear
surface.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a state wherein the camera is connected to
a personal computer (to be referred to as a "PC" hereinafter) 44, a
digital recorder 45, and a printer 46.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the entire electric arrangement
of the camera.
As shown in FIG. 1, a photographing lens 2 held by a lens mirror
cylinder 3 is arranged towards the right side of the central
portion on the front surface of a camera body 1 as shown in FIG. 1.
An optical finder objective unit 4 is exposed to the upper side of
the photographing lens 2, and distance measurement lenses 5 and 6
are arranged on the left and right sides of the optical finder
objective unit 4 to be spaced apart from each other by a
predetermined base length. An electric-flash device 7 for
illuminating an object is arranged on the left side of the distance
measurement lens 5, and a grip portion 8 for holding the camera
body 1 is arranged on the left side of the electric-flash device 7.
A strap fixing portion 9 is arranged on the side surface of the
grip portion 8.
On the side surface of the camera body 1 opposing the grip portion
8, as shown in FIG. 2, a recording medium insertion/extraction port
15 is provided for inserting/removing a recording medium 33 serving
as a detachable recording means (to be described later). Below the
recording medium insertion/extraction port 15, a video output
terminal 19 for connecting the camera to a monitor television and a
data input/output terminal 20 for connecting the camera to an
external machine such as a printer or a PC are formed.
Referring to FIG. 3, arranged on the upper surface of the camera
body 1, are a release switch 10, an increment switch 11 for
updating a set numeral value such as a date to increase the value;
a decrement switch 12 for updating a set numeral value or the like
to decrease the value; a fixing switch 13 for fixing the data such
as a date selected by the increment switch 11 for the decrement
switch 12; a mode selection switch 14 for selecting a predetermined
mode from various modes of the camera; and a liquid-crystal display
unit 16 for displaying mode information of the like selected by the
mode selection switch 14. These various operation switches are
automatic-reset switches.
Arranged on the rear surface on the camera body 1 is a
liquid-crystal display unit 17 for displaying information which is
required for a predetermined editing operation (to be described
later) performed by the camera, such as a date selected by the
increment switch 11 or the decrement switch 12 or the photographing
date of an image. A power supply switch 18 for supplying a power to
the camera is arranged on the upper right portion on the rear
surface of the camera body 1.
Referring to FIG. 4, the camera body 1 is connected to the PC 44 to
execute, as needed, further various types of image processing which
cannot be executed by the camera itself. The camera 1 is connected
to the digital recorder 45 to record a large amount of image data
from that recorded on the recording medium 33 onto the digital
recorder 45. The camera 1 is also connected to the printer 46 to
cause the printer 46 to print the image corresponding to the image
data recorded on the recording medium 33. The printer 46 is also
connected to the PC 44 to enable the printing of the image
corresponding to the image data processed by the PC 44.
The electric arrangement of the camera according to this embodiment
will be described below with reference to FIG. 5. The same
reference numerals as in the arrangements described in FIGS. 1 to 3
denote the same parts in the arrangement described in FIG. 5.
The photographing lens 2 is arranged to form an object image on the
photographing surface of a solid state imaging element 25 arranged
behind the photographing lens 2. The photographing lens 2 is
mechanically connected to a photographing lens drive unit 21. The
photographing lens 2 is driven to a predetermined position such
that a clear object image is always formed on the photographing
surface of the solid state imaging element 25 on the basis of a
distance to an object measured by a distance measurement circuit 34
(to be described later).
An aperture 22 arranged behind the photographing lens has an
aperture function of adjusting a depth of field and an amount of
exposure for the solid state imaging element 25 and a shutter
function of determining a shutter speed. This aperture 22 is
mechanically connected to an aperture drive unit 23. The aperture
22 is set to have a predetermined diameter and a predetermined
shutter speed on the basis of a command signal from a CPU (Center
Processing Unit) 39.
An optical low-pass filter 24 for preventing reflected distortion
from being generated in a video signal is arranged behind the
aperture 22.
The solid state imaging element 25 is arranged behind the optical
low-pass filter 24. A drive circuit 26 is connected to the solid
state imaging element 25 to store a signal from the solid state
imaging element for a predetermined period of time and generate a
signal for reading the stored signal at a predetermined timing. The
drive circuit 26 is connected to the CPU 39 to be controlled on the
basis of a signal from the CPU 39.
The output terminal of the solid state imaging element 25 is
connected to the input terminal of an A/D converter 27. An analog
output signal from the solid state imaging element 25 is converted
into a digital signal by the A/D converter 27, and the digital
signal is sent to a Digital Signal Processor 28 connected to the
output terminal of the A/D converter 27. The DSP 28 is a processor
for dividing the digital signal into a color-difference signal and
a luminance signal to perform correction and a
compression/expansion process.
The output terminal of the digital signal processor 28 is connected
to a Discrete Cosine Transform (to be referred to as DCT
hereinafter)circuit 29. In the DCT circuit 29, an orthogonal
transformation which is an image compression/expansion process in
accordance with the JPEG is performed. The DCT circuit 29 is
connected to a Huffman Encoder/Decoder 30. In this Huffman
Encoder/Decoder 30, a predetermined process which is an image
compression process in accordance with the JPEG is performed. With
the Huffman encoding/decoding process performed here, a
high-efficiency image compression/expansion process can be
performed.
The output terminal of the Huffman encoder/decoder circuit 30 is
connected to a Memory Control Circuit 31. The output terminal of
this memory control circuit 31 is connected to the recording medium
33 through a connector 32. The memory control circuit 31 serves to
record data on the recording medium 33 or read recorded data from
the recording medium 33.
A distance measurement circuit 34 is a circuit for forming a signal
for measuring a distance from the camera to an object. In this
camera, the two distance measurement lenses 5 and 6 which are
spaced apart from each other by a predetermined base length are
arranged such that an object image is formed using the principle of
triangular distance measurement on a light-receiving surface of a
distance measurement sensor (not shown) serving as the main
component of the distance measurement circuit 34.
The CPU 39 executes a predetermined process on the basis of an
output signal from the distance measurement circuit 34 to calculate
a distance to the object. On the basis of the calculation result,
the CPU 39 sends a predetermined signal to the photographing lens
drive unit 21. With this arrangement, the photographing lens drive
unit 21 drives the photographing lens 2 to a predetermined position
such that a focused object image is always formed on the
photographing surface of the solid state imaging element 25.
The electric-flash circuit 35 is connected to the CPU 39. The CPU
39 is a circuit which radiates auxiliary light on the object when
determined to be necessary by the CPU 39 on the basis of brightness
information of the object measured by a photometric circuit 38 (to
be described later), e.g., that the object has low brightness.
A calendar signal generation means 36 is connected to the CPU 39 to
generate a calendar signal on the basis of a date input by a camera
operator, a photographing date data recorded on the recording
medium 33, or the present date generated by a timer incorporated in
the CPU 39. This calendar signal may be incorporated in the CPU
39.
The character signal generation circuit 37 is connected to the CPU
39 to generate a character signal consisting of fonts such as
letters and numbers which are required for display formats such as
a calendar. The character signal may be incorporated in the CPU
39.
The liquid-crystal display units 16 and 17 are connected to the CPU
39 to be controlled by the CPU 39. The video output terminal 19 and
the data input/output terminal 20 are also connected to the CPU 39,
and all the various operation switches are also connected to the
CPU 39. The basic functions of the various operation switches have
been described above in FIGS. 1 to 3.
The photometric circuit 38 is connected to the CPU 39. The
photometric circuit 38 is a circuit to measure the brightness of
the object prior to a photographing operation. The value of a
shutter speed is determined on the basis of information obtained by
a photometric operation performed by the photometric circuit 38,
which also determines whether auxiliary light is illuminated
through the electric-flash circuit 35, as described below.
The CPU 39 is arranged to identify information input by an operator
of the camera 1 and perform various controls of the entire camera
depending on the identification information.
The operation of the first embodiment will be described below.
When the mode selection switch 14 arranged on the upper surface of
the camera 1 is pressed, the mode is sequentially switched to
various photographing modes or various process modes. This
embodiment relates to a mode for performing panorama photographing
(to be referred to as a "panorama mode" hereinafter) of these
various modes.
This embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 6
showing a recording format of image information of each frame
photographed and recorded on the recording medium 33, FIGS. 7 to 14
which are flow charts showing the flows of operations of this
embodiment, and FIGS. 15 to 23 which are display examples of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17 corresponding to the operations of
this embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a main routine showing the entire flow of the operation
of this embodiment.
The mode selection switch 14 is pressed to select a panorama mode
while checking the liquid-crystal display unit 16. When the
panorama mode is set, as shown in FIG. 15, a menu constituted by a
"photographing" mode, an "editing" mode, and "end" serving as
sub-modes are displayed at the upper right portion of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17. Operation contents operated by a
camera operator are displayed at the lower left portion of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17.
A display "+-" represents that one sub-mode can be selected from
the menu by operating the increment switch 11 or the decrement
switch 12. The display at the upper left portion of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17 is a display representing that the
panorama mode is set.
When the increment switch 11 or the decrement switch 12 is
operated, a triangle index on the left of the sub-modes moves. When
the index moves to the position of a predetermined sub-mode, the
fixing switch 13 is pressed, and the selection of the predetermined
sub-mode is fixed. At the same time, a mark representing that the
predetermined sub-mode has been selected and fixed is displayed at
the lower right portion of the liquid crystal display unit 17. It
is checked whether the selected sub-mode is the "photographing"
mode. In the following description, for descriptive convenience,
this determination process is called [J701].
As a result of this determination process [J701], if it is
determined that the "photographing mode" is set, various processes
for panorama photographing (to be described later) are executed. On
the other hand, as a result of the determination process [J701], if
it is determined the editing mode is set, a predetermined editing
process such as an erase process is executed to a panorama image
photographed in the "photographing" mode.
As a result of the determination result [J701], if the
"photographing" mode is selected, a subroutine (to be referred to
as "subroutine 1") for determining an initial setting is executed.
The subroutine 1 will be described below with reference to FIG.
8.
In the subroutine 1, a direction of a rotation angle of the camera
in the panorama photographing is set.
When the "photographing" mode is selected, a predetermined display
as shown in FIG. 16A appears on the liquid-crystal display unit 17
to overlap the image of the object. Upper end lower rectangular
marks and arrows in FIG. 16A represent that the camera is rotated
such that the photographing surface of the solid state imaging
element 25 corresponding to the position of the upper rectangular
mark moves to the position where the object in the lower
rectangular mark is photographed in the next photographing
operation. More specifically, in this case, the camera is rotated
from the upper side to the lower side.
When the increment switch 11 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 16B, the
direction of the arrows is switched. In this case, according to the
same theory as described above, the camera is rotated from the
lower side to the upper side.
When the increment switch 11 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 17A,
rectangular marks and arrows are displayed on the left and right
sides of the liquid-crystal display unit 17. In this case,
according to the same theory as described above, the camera is
rotated clockwise.
In addition, when the increment switch 11 is pressed, the direction
of the arrows is switched as shown in FIG. 17B. In this case,
according to the same theory as described above, the camera is
rotated counterclockwise.
Although the display of the liquid-crystal display unit 17 is
switched by pressing the increment switch 11 in the above
description, the decrement switch 12 may be pressed. In this case,
the display order is reversed.
When any one of the above displays representing the rotating
directions of the camera appears on the liquid-crystal display unit
17 by pressing the increment switch 11 or the decrement switch 12,
if the fixing switch 13 is pressed, the rotation direction of the
camera is fixed.
As shown in FIG. 6, information representing the rotation direction
of the camera is recorded on the recording medium 33 as header
information in correspondence with each image.
Upon completion of setting of the rotation direction of the camera,
the number of panorama-photographed frames of one set (the
predicted number of panorama-photographed frames) is set. This
setting will be described below with reference to subroutine 11 in
FIG. 9.
In the subroutine 11, the number of available frames (n1) which can
be recorded in the recording medium 33 is calculated. Selection is
performed to check whether the predicted number of photographed
frames (N) is equal to or larger than the predetermined number of
frames.
FIG. 18 shows an example in which two selection menus representing
that the predicted number of frames N is equal to or larger than
the number of available frames n1 (temporarily set as 10) and that
the predicted number of frames N is smaller than the number of
unexposed frames n1 available for panoramic photographing are
displayed on the upper right portion of the liquid-crystal display
unit 17. As in the above operation, the triangle mark on the left
side of the menus is moved by operating the increment switch 11 or
the decrement switch 12.
The selected predicted number of frames to be panorama-photographed
(N) is compared with the number of available frames (n1). Here, if
N>n1, a warning (not shown) of "spare recording medium required"
is displayed on the liquid-crystal display unit 17.
When the fixing switch 13 is pressed, a menu indicated by the
triangle mark is fixed.
FIG. 18 is a view showing a case wherein 10 or more is selected as
the predicted number of photographed frames. As described above,
when a lack of capacity of the recording medium is predicted, the
photographer is warned of the lack of capacity, so that the
inconvenience of having the photographing unexpectedly stopped can
be prevented.
As a result of the selection, it is checked whether N>n1 is
satisfied. If N>n1 is satisfied, "1" is set in a flag ("FLG1" is
set) serving as a predetermined memory in the CPU 39. On the other
hand, in the above determination, if N>n1 is not satisfied, "0"
is set in the FLG1. Here, FLG1=1 represents that a spare recording
medium is required, and FLG1=0 represents no spare recording medium
is required. Upon completion of the above flag, the control flow
returns from the subroutine 11.
The number of photographed frames to be selected is not limited to
the above example. Various numbers having smaller intervals may be
selected as the number of photographed frames.
When the flow returns from the subroutine 11, the flow returns to
the subroutine 1 shown in FIG. 8, and the flow returns from the
subroutine 1. When the flow returns from the subroutine 1,
returning to FIG. 7, the subroutine 2 representing the flow of
photographing operation is executed.
The operations of the subroutine 2 will be described below with
reference to FIG. 10.
It is checked whether the first frame is photographed in panoramic
photographing mode. For convenience in the following description,
this determination process is called [J1001]. As the determination
result, if it is determined that the first frame is photographed,
it is checked whether the release switch 10 is pressed.
Here, this determination process is called [J1002]. If the release
switch 10 is not pressed, the determination process [J1001] is
performed again, and the above operation is repeated. As a result
of the determination process [J1001], if the first frame is not
photographed, i.e., if the second frame or a frame subsequent to
the second frame is photographed, it is checked by the following
manner whether the rotation angle of the camera falls within an
allowable range.
When the camera is rotated in the direction designated in FIG. 16A,
the image of a rectangular region "B" in the image of the first
frame is ideally rotated to be located at a position "A" in
photographing of the second frame. A correlation operation for
detecting the degree of coincidence between the two images is
performed between the image data of the region B in FIG. 16A
recorded on the recording medium 33 after the releasing operation
and the image data of the region A in FIG. 16A of image data which
are photographed in real time at predetermined intervals of time
and converted into a digital signal before the next release
operation. As a result of the correlation operation, if the degree
of coincidence falls within an allowable range, it is determined
that the rotating angle of the camera is appropriate, and a
flickering "OK" is displayed on the liquid-crystal display unit 17
(not shown).
It is determined in the determination process [J1002] that the
release switch 10 is pressed, it is checked again whether the first
frame is panorama-photographed. This determination process is
called [J1003]. If it is determined in the determination process
that the first frame is panorama-photographed, distance measurement
for measuring the distance from the camera to the object is
performed to drive the photographing lens 2 to a predetermined
position. A photometric operation for determining an aperture
diameter and a shutter speed is performed. The photometric
information is stored in an internal memory of the CPU 39. White
balance information is also stored in the memory. Exposure is
performed on the bases of the photometric information.
If it is determined in the determination process [J1003] that the
frame being photographed is not the first panoramic frame, the
distance measurement and the photometric operation are not
performed, but exposure is performed under the same conditions as
those used in the photographing of the first frame. This is because
photographing of the second frame or a frame subsequent to the
second frame is performed on the basis of the same distance
measurement information, photometric information, and white balance
information as those of the first frame. In this manner, the images
of frames obtained by panorama photographing are synthesized with
each other, a panorama image having an exposure, a focusing state,
and white balance which are similar to those of a panorama image
obtained by performing panorama photographing once can be
obtained.
Upon completion of the exposure, an analog output signal from the
solid state imaging element 25 is converted into a digital signal
by the A/D converter 27. The digital signal is subjected to various
signal processing such as image compression by the digital signal
processor 28, the DCT circuit 29, and the Huffman encoder/decoder
30. The image data subjected to the predetermined signal processing
is recorded on the recording medium 33 under the control of the
memory control circuit 31.
As shown in FIG. 6, in correspondence with the image data of the
respective frames, shared filed names of frames constituting
panorama images, panorama numbers serving as data added to panorama
images in a photographing order, and frame numbers serving as data
representing the photographing order if all images are recorded as
header information. As the header information, in addition to the
above information, a rotation direction which is described above
and represents a rotation direction of the camera in panorama
photographing, a photographing date, and a protect code (to be
described later) are recorded.
Upon completion of photographing, the menus of the same sub-modes
as shown in FIG. 15 are displayed at the upper right portion of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17, and selection is performed to check
whether panorama photographing continues. As in the above selection
of a sub-mode, a predetermined sub-mode is selected from the menu
by operating the increment switch 11 or the decrement switch 12,
and the selected sub-mode is fixed by the fixing switch 13.
In this embodiment, as described above, the above selection for
checking whether panorama photographing continues is performed for
each frame photographed in panoramic mode. However, the invention
is not limited to this embodiment. The following methods may be
used. For example, an interrupt function is given to a
predetermined switch during panoramic photographing, and the
panorama photographing is ended when the predetermined switch is
pressed. In addition, the number of panorama-photographed frames is
input in advance, the panorama photographing may continue until
photographing of the frames corresponding to the input number of
panorama-photographed frames is completed. In this manner, it is
not necessary to check the selection of whether panorama
photographing continues after each time photographing of one frame
is ended.
It is checked whether the fixed sub-mode is a "photographing" mode.
Here, this determination process is called [J1004].
If the "photographing" mode is selected in the determination
process, it is checked whether the number of remaining frames which
can be recorded on the recording medium 33 is smaller than the
predetermined number of frames (n2). This determination process is
called [J1005]. As a result of the determination process, if the
number of remaining recordable frames is not smaller than n2, the
flow branches off to the determination process [J1001] to repeat
the above operations.
If it is determined in the determination process [J1004] that "end"
is selected, the flow returns from the subroutine 2 to end
panoramic photographing.
If the "photographing" mode is selected in the determination
process [J1004], and if it is determined in the determination
process [J1005] that the number of remaining frames which can be
recorded on the recording medium 33 is smaller than n2, the
determination results are displayed on the liquid-crystal display
unit 17 with a warning (not shown). With this arrangement, a
photographer can prepare for an exchange of recording media 33.
It is checked whether the number of remaining frames which can be
recorded on the recording medium 33 is "0". This determination
process is called [J1006]. If it is determined in the determination
process that the number of remaining frames which can be recorded
on the recording medium 33 is not "0", the flow branches off to the
determination process [J1001] to repeat the operations described
above.
If it is determined in the determination process [J1006] that the
number of remaining frames which can be recorded on the recording
medium 33 is "0", the determination result is displayed with a
warning.
This warning display will be described below with references to
FIGS. 16C and 17C.
FIG. 16C shows a case wherein the rotation direction of the camera
is set to be a direction in which the camera is rotated from the
upper side to the lower side (FIG. 16A). FIG. 16 shows the
following case. That is, when the capacity of the recording medium
33 becomes zero in the middle of panorama photographing of several
frames, the rectangular mark and the arrow on the lower side of the
screen are cleared and only the upper mark is displayed to warn a
photographer that the capacity becomes zero. In this case, a
panorama mark at the upper left portion of the screen, a mark "+-"
at the lower left portion of the screen, and a mode displaying are
cleared. This is because it is apparent that panorama photographing
is performed, and such displays are not necessary.
FIG. 17C shows a case wherein the rotation direction of the camera
is set to be to the right (FIG. 17A). FIG. 17C shows the following
state. That is, when the capacity of the recording medium 33
becomes zero in the middle of panorama photographing of several
frames, the rectangular mark and the arrow on the right side of the
screen are cleared and only the left mark is displayed to display
that the capacity becomes zero. In this case, for the same reason
as described above, a panorama mark at the upper left portion of
the screen, a mark "+-" at the lower left portion of the screen,
and a mode display are cleared.
As described above, when one of the rectangular marks is cleared,
it is apparent that the capacity of the recording medium 33 becomes
zero, and a panorama photographing device which can be used in
human engineering can be provided.
When the warning display is made, then it is checked whether the
FLG1 is "0". This determination process is called [J1007]. Although
the FLG1 is described in the explanation of the subroutine 11 shown
in FIG. 9, FLG1=1 represents that the number of
panorama-photographed frames is so large that a spare recording
medium is required as the recording medium 33, and FLG1=0
represents that the spare recording medium is not necessary.
If FLG1=1 is satisfied in the determination process [J1007], a
display representing that the recording media must be exchanged is
made on the liquid-crystal display unit 17 with the warning (not
shown).
If FLG1=1 is not satisfied in the determination process [J1007],
the flow returns from the subroutine 2 to end panorama
photographing of one set of frames. More specifically, in this
case, the determination process [J1007] serves as an inhibition
means for inhibiting panorama photographing when the number of
remaining frames which can be recorded on the recording medium 33
is determined as "0" in the determination process [J1006].
When the photographer does not want to continue panorama
photographing, if the number of remaining frames which can be
recorded on the recording medium 33 is determined as "0", the
panorama photographing is forcibly inhibited, so that redundant
operations such as mode switching can be omitted.
It is checked whether the recording media 33 has been exchanged. If
it is determined that the recording media 33 has been exchanged,
the flow goes to the determination process [J1001] again to repeat
the above operations. Predetermined identification codes recorded
on each recording media 33 are checked to determine whether the
recording media 33 has been exchanged. Here, when the recording
media 33 is exchanged, the same file names used in the panorama
photographing before the exchange, and the panoramic series numbers
are added to the image data of the frames of the next panorama
photographing session. In this manner, searching and editing
operations for one set of panoramic images after photographing can
be easily performed.
If FLG1=1 is not satisfied in the determination process [J1007],
the flow returns from the subroutine 2. When the flow returns from
the subroutine 2, the flow returns to the main routine in FIG. 7 to
end the panorama mode.
The editing mode will now be described below.
If it is determined in the determination process [J701] in FIG. 7
that the "photographing" mode is not set, then it is checked
whether the "editing" mode is set. This determination process is
called [J702]. As a result of the determination process, if it is
determined that the "editing" mode is set, the flow branches off to
subroutine (subroutine 3) to perform editing.
The operation of the subroutine 3 will be described below with
reference to FIGS. 11 to 14.
In the subroutine 3 shown in FIG. 11, as shown in FIG. 19, menu
selections "erase", "protect", "download", "print", and "end" which
are sub-modes of the "editing" mode which are sequentially ordered
from the upper side are displayed at the upper right portion of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17. The "erase" mode is a mode for
erasing stored image data.
The "protect" mode is a mode for inhibiting the stored image data
from being erased or read. The "download" mode is a mode for
storing image information from the recording medium 33 in an
external memory device such as the digital recorder 45. The "print"
mode is a mode for printing the image corresponding to the image
data recorded on the recording medium 33. The "end" mode is a mode
for ending an editing operation to cause the flow to return to the
main routine.
As in the above sub-mode selection, the increment switch 11 or the
decrement switch 12 is operated to select a predetermined sub-mode
form the sub-modes. After the predetermined sub-mode is selected,
when the fixing switch 13 is pressed, the sub-mode is fixed.
It is checked whether the fixed sub-mode is the "erase" mode. This
determination process is called [J301]. As a result of the
determination process, if the "erase" mode is set, subroutine
(subroutine 31) in this mode is executed.
The operation of the subroutine 31 will be described below with
reference to the flow chart in FIG. 12.
When the "erase" mode is selected, as shown in FIG. 20A, the
multi-divided image corresponding to the image data recorded on the
recording medium 33 is displayed on the liquid-crystal display unit
17. In FIG. 20A, the same letters denote one set of panorama
images. The screen is divided into nine (3.times.3) small screens,
and the small screens are sequentially displayed in a photographing
order such that the three screens of the uppermost horizontal row
of the entire screen are arranged from the left, and the three
screen of the second horizontal row of the entire screen are
arranged from the left. The arrangement of the small screens is
called a screen sequential arrangement.
Selection of the erased screen is performed. On one of the
multi-divided small screens, a circular point is flickered as shown
in FIG. 20A. This flickered display represents the screen
corresponding to image data to be erased. When the increment switch
11 is pressed, the flickering point moves sequentially horizontally
in the row of small screens. In the state wherein the flickered
display is located in the small screen on the right end, when the
increment switch 11 is pressed, the flickered display moves to the
small screen on the left end of the next row. The same operations
as described above are repeated. When the decrement switch 12, the
flickered display moves in the direction opposite to the direction
when the increment switch 11 is pressed.
The increment switch 11 is pressed, and, as shown in FIG. 20A, the
flickered display is located in the small display on the right end
of the lowermost row. In this case, when the increment switch 11 is
pressed, as shown in FIG. 20B, the small screen shifts in the right
direction. In this manner, even if all the images cannot be
displayed on the screen at once, the entire image collection
recorded on the recording medium can be easily confirmed.
When a protect code (see FIG. 6) is added to the image data
corresponding to a small screen selected as described above, the
protect code is displayed with a warning code representing an
inhibition of erasing (not shown). In this case, if the small
screen corresponding to protected image data is selected to be
erased, the fixing switch 13 is invalid, and the image data is
forcibly inhibited from being erased.
When the screen corresponding to image data to which a protect code
is not added is selected, and the image corresponding to the fixed
screen partially constitutes a panoramic image, a warning that the
image partially constitutes a panoramic image is displayed (not
shown). The check as to whether the image partially constitutes a
panoramic image is made by identifying the numbers (shown in FIG.
6) serving as data added to the panoramic images in their
photographing order. The warning is given when the image is a frame
partially constituting a panoramic image because the panoramic
image has higher relativity to another frame than that of a single
image.
When the fixing switch 13 is pressed, the image corresponding to
the selected small screen is erased. If the fixing switch is not
pressed, the operations following the selection on the erased
screen are repeated.
When the fixing switch 13 is pressed to erase the image data
corresponding to the selected small screen, if the erased image
data partially constitutes a panoramic image, the header
information added to the image data shown in FIG. 6 such as the
file name, panorama number, and frame number of the separated
panoramic image are updated.
When the number of frames constituting a panoramic image separated
by erasing the image data is only one, the image is not a panoramic
image. The panorama number is updated to a code corresponding to an
ordinarily photographed frame. In this manner, a panoramic image
can be prevented from being erroneously recognized.
Upon completion of the above operation, the flow returns from the
memory control circuit 31, and, in FIG. 11, returning to the
selection of the sub-mode in the "editing" mode, the same
operations as described above are repeated.
In the explanation of the "erase" mode, a display having a screen
sequential arrangement is used as a multi-divided display. However,
the display is not limited to the display having a screen
sequential arrangement. More specifically, when the images
corresponding to image data recorded on the recording medium 33 is
a panoramic image, if the panoramic image is horizontally rotated
to be photographed, the panoramic image is horizontally displayed
at the center of the screen as shown in FIG. 21A. The direction and
order of the arrangement of images constituting the panoramic image
are determined on the basis of the panorama number and the rotation
direction which are contained in the header information as shown in
FIG. 6.
FIG. 21B shows a state in which the panoramic image is shifted to
the right by one frame by pressing the increment switch 11. When
the display is made as described above, the same image as an object
actually photographed is displayed. For this reason, a checking
operation and an editing operation for the photographed panoramic
image can be easily performed advantageously.
In the above description, ordinarily photographed images are
displayed at the same time and with the panoramic image. The
present invention is not limited to the above description, however.
For example, only the panoramic image may be selectively
displayed.
In the subroutine 3 representing the operations in the "editing"
mode, if it is determined in the determination process [J301] that
the "erase" mode is not set, then it is checked whether the
"protect" mode is set. This determination process, is called
[J302]. As a result of the determination process, if the "protect"
mode is set, subroutine (subroutine 32) in this mode is
executed.
This protect mode will be described below with reference to the
flow chart shown in FIG. 13. In the subroutine 32 shown in FIG. 13,
selection of a sub-mode is performed. The sub-modes are constituted
by "setting" representing the setting of the protect mode, "cancel"
representing the canceling of the protect mode, and "end"
representing the end of the sub-mode selection. The selection of
the sub-mode is performed in the same manner described above with
respect to the explanations of other operations such that one of
the menus displayed at the upper right portion of the
liquid-crystal display unit 17 is selected as shown in FIG. 22.
In the selection of the sub-menu, if "setting" or "cancel" is
selected, then setting of a protect code or selection of an image
in which a protect code is to be canceled is performed. This image
selection is performed by displaying the image photographed by the
liquid-crystal display unit 17 in a multi-division state in the
same manner as that of the selection of an erased screen. In this
case, unlike the selecting operation of the erased screen, when an
image subjected to setting or canceling of the protect code is to
be selected, it is checked whether a protect code has previously
been added to the selected image or whether the selected image is
included in one set of panorama images, but is not protected.
Upon completion of the selection of the image subject to the
setting or canceling of the protect code, it is checked whether the
selected image is an image included in a set of panoramic images.
This determination process is called [J3201]. As a result of the
determination process, if it is determined that the selected image
is one image included in a set of panoramic images, then it is
checked whether the protect code is set. This determination process
is called [J3202].
As a result of the determination process, if it is determined that
setting of the protect code is performed, the protect codes are set
to all of the images of the set of panoramic images as the header
information of the image data as shown in FIG. 6.
As described above, the protect codes are added to all of the
panoramic images in the set when it is determined that the selected
image is an image within a set of panoramic images because the
panoramic images are usually processed as a whole. As a matter of
course, the invention is not limited to the above description. For
example, a protect code may be individually added to a single image
included in a set of panoramic images.
As a result of the determination process [J3202], if it is
determined that setting of the protect code is not performed, i.e.,
if it is determined that a cancellation of the protect code is to
be performed, the protect codes of all of the panoramic images in
the set are canceled. Upon completion of the above operation, the
flow shifts to the selection of a sub-mode again to repeat the
above operations.
If it is determined in the determination process [J3201] that the
selected image is not an image belonging to a set of panoramic
images, i.e., if it is determined that the selected image is an
image photographed by ordinary photographing, then it is checked
whether setting of a protect code is performed. This determination
process is called [J3203]. As a result of the determination
process, if it is determined that setting of a protect code is
performed, a protect code is set for the selected image.
As a result of the determination process [J3203], if a setting of
the protect code is not performed, i.e., if the protect code is
canceled, the protect code of the selected image is canceled. Upon
completion of the above operations, the flow shifts to the
selection of a sub mode again to repeat the above operations.
If "end" is selected in the selection of a sub-mode, the flow
returns from the subroutine 32.
As shown in FIG. 11, if it is determined in the determination
process [J302] that the "protect" mode is not set, then it is
checked whether a "download" mode is set. This determination
process is called [J303]. As a result of the determination process,
if it is determined that the "download" mode is set, image
information recorded on the recording medium 33 is stored in the
digital recorder 45 serving as an external memory device. Upon
completion of the above operations, the flow shifts to the
selection of a sub-mode again to repeat the above operations.
If it is determined in the determination process [J303] that the
"download" mode is not set, then it is checked whether a "print"
mode is set. This determination process is called [J304]. As a
result of the determination process, if it is determined that the
"print" mode is set, subroutine (subroutine 33) in this mode is
executed. The subroutine 33 will be described below with reference
to FIG. 14.
When the flow branches off to the subroutine 33, a print image is
selected. As in the "erase" mode, a photographed image is displayed
in a multi-division state. As in the selection of an erased image
in the "erase" mode, a print image to be printed is selected.
FIG. 23 shows a case wherein an image A2 serving as one frame from
a set of panoramic images is selected. Here, if the selected image
is the image of one frame of a panoramic image, a display appears
indicating that the selected image is one frame of a panoramic
image. In an example in FIG. 23, for this purpose, a panorama mark
at the upper left of the screen is flickered.
It is checked whether the fixing switch 13 is pressed. If the
fixing switch 13 is not pressed, the operation for selecting the
print image is repeated. On the other hand, if the fixing switch 13
is pressed, then it is checked again whether the image is the image
of one frame of the panorama image. This determination process is
called [J3301]. Here, if the selected image is the image of one
frame constituting the panoramic image, all of the panoramic images
in the set to which the frame belongs are printed, and thereafter
the flow returns from the subroutine 33.
As a result of the determination process [J3301], if it is
determined that the selected image is not an image from a set of
panoramic images, after the image of the selected frame is printed,
the flow returns from the subroutine 33.
As described above, a predetermined image selected by the camera is
printed on the basis of a command signal output from the camera.
For this reason, the system can be reduced in size and cost.
As shown in FIG. 11, if it is determined in the determination
process [J304] that the "print" mode is not set, it is understood
that "end" is set, and the flow returns from the subroutine 3.
When the flow returns from the subroutine 3, in FIG. 7, the flow
shifts to the selection of a sub-mode again to repeat the above
operations.
In the determination process [J702], if it is determined that the
"editing mode" is not set, it is understood that "end" is set, and
all executions of the panorama mode are ended.
The second preferred embodiment of the present invention will be
described below. In the following description, only arrangements
and operations which are different from those of the first
embodiment of the present invention will be explained.
In the first embodiment, when data corresponding to a rotation
direction of the camera when panoramic photographing is performed
is to be recorded on the recording medium 33 as header information
for each photographed image, the rotation direction of the camera
is manually selected. However, in the second embodiment, as a means
for setting information corresponding to the rotation direction of
the camera, a means for automatically setting the information on
the basis of an output signal from an angular velocity sensor for
detecting the rotation angle and rotation direction of the camera
body 1 is used.
The appearance of a camera serving as an electronic photographing
device according to the second embodiment are the same as those in
FIGS. 1 to 3. A view showing a connection state between the camera
and a PC 44 in the second embodiment is the same as that shown in
FIG. 4.
FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the entire electric arrangement
of the camera according to the second embodiment. The arrangement
and operation of the camera will be described below.
The output terminal of an angular velocity sensor 40 is connected
to the input terminal of an A/D converter 42. The output terminal
of the A/D converter 42 is connected to a CPU 39.
The angular velocity sensor 40 detects an angular velocity obtained
when the camera is rotated about a Y-axis which is a left-right
direction when the camera is viewed from an object. An analog
signal representing the angular velocity detected by the angular
velocity sensor 40 is converted into a digital signal at a
predetermined interval of time by the A/D converter 42, and the
converted digital signal is subjected to time quadrature by the CPU
39. The digital signal subjected to time quadrature corresponds to
an amount of rotation of the camera body 1 about the Y axis. The
rotation direction is determined by checking the polarity of the
analog output signal from the angular velocity sensor 40.
The output signal terminal of the digital recorder 41 is connected
to the input terminal of an A/D converter 43. The output terminal
of the A/D converter 43 is connected to the CPU 39.
When the upper-lower direction of the camera is set to be an X-axis
direction, the digital recorder 41 is to detect an angular velocity
obtained when the camera is rotated about the X-axis. An analog
signal representing the angular velocity detected by the angular
velocity sensor 41 is converted into a digital signal at a
predetermined interval of time by the A/D converter 43, and the
converted digital signal is subjected to time quadrature by the CPU
39. The digital signal subjected to time quadrature corresponds to
an amount of rotation of the camera body 1 about the X axis. The
rotation direction is determined by checking the polarity of the
analog output signal from the angular velocity sensor 41.
The operation of the camera according to the second embodiment will
be described below.
As described above, the second embodiment is different from the
first embodiment only in the means for recording information
related to the rotation direction of the camera in the
"photographing" mode on the recording medium 33. Therefore, only
the different portion will be explained below in a description of
the operations of the second embodiment.
In the second embodiment, in the subroutine 1 shown in FIG. 8, an
operation for manually setting a direction of the rotation angle of
the camera is not required. In the subroutine 1, upon completion of
execution of the subroutine 11 for setting the number of
panorama-photographed frames, the subroutine 2 shown in FIG. 10 is
executed.
In the subroutine 2 shown in FIG. 10, as in the first embodiment,
it is checked whether the first frame is photographed in panoramic
mode. This determination process is called [J1001].
As a result of the determination process, it is checked whether the
release switch 10 is pressed. Here, the determination process is
called [J1002].
If the release switch 10 is pressed, as in the first embodiment,
predetermined photographing operations such as photometric
operation and an exposure operation are performed. However, in the
second embodiment, in addition to the operations performed in the
first embodiment, the time quadrature is executed on the converted
output signals of the angular velocity sensors 40 and 41
immediately after the exposure operation. On the basis of the time
quadrature, the rotation angle and rotation direction of the camera
after photographing (exposure) of the first frame are
calculated.
As a result of the determination process [J1001], if it is
determined that the first frame has been photographed, i.e., if the
second frame or a frame subsequent to the second frame is
photographed, the rotation angle of the camera after the
photographing (exposure) operation performed immediately before the
photographing of the second frame or a frame subsequent to the
second frame falls within an allowable range. More specifically,
the rotation angle of the camera is calculated on the basis of the
result obtained by performing time quadrature to the output signal
from the angular velocity sensors 40 and 41, and of information
such as a focal length of the photographing lens 2.
At the same time, the rotation direction is recorded as header
information as shown in FIG. 6. While the camera is rotated, an
arrow indicating the rotating direction of the camera is flickered
and displayed at the lower right portion of a liquid-crystal
display unit.
FIG. 25 shows an example wherein the camera is rotated clockwise.
As a result of checking whether the rotation angle of the camera
falls within an allowable range, if it is determined that the that
the rotating angle of the camera falls within the allowable range,
"OK" is flickered and displayed on the liquid-crystal display unit
17 (not shown). When this flickered display is confirmed, a release
operation is performed again, and the next frame is
panorama-photographed in the same manner as described above.
In the second embodiment, whether the rotation angle of the camera
falls within the allowable range is checked by directly calculating
the rotation angle on the basis of the time quadrature of the
output signals from the angular velocity sensors 40 and 41.
However, the present invention is not limited to this method, and,
as in the first embodiment, the rotation angle may be calculated by
performing a correlation operation between the image data of
photographed frames after and before the exposure operation.
In the second embodiment, an angular velocity sensor is disclosed
as the sensor for detecting the rotation direction and rotation
angle of the camera. Alternatively, as the sensor, not only the
angular velocity sensor, but also an acceleration sensor may be
used.
The angular velocity sensor used in the second embodiment and a
sensor for detecting and preventing blurring of the camera may also
be used, so that a cost/performance ratio may be increased.
According to the second embodiment of the present invention
described above, information related to a rotation direction of
panoramic photographing can be recorded on the recording medium 33
with a simple operation. In addition, since the rotation angle of
the camera can be correctly determined, users of all skill levels
can easily perform panoramic photographing with a simple
operation.
In each of the first and second embodiments, when the data
corresponding to the rotation direction of the camera in panoramic
photographing is to be recorded on the recording medium 33 as
header information for each photographed image, information related
to the rotation direction is manually set or automatically
determined by an angular velocity sensor. The rotation direction is
not limited to the directions described above as the rotating
direction may be set to be a predetermined direction, e.g., a
closing direction of a tripod screw for fixing the camera.
As has been described above according to the embodiments of the
present invention, the photographed panorama image can be easily
reproduced in an appropriate arrangement and an appropriate
arrangement direction on a display screen arranged on the same
camera as that used in panorama photographing.
In this invention, it is apparent that various working embodiments
can be formed on this basis of this disclosure without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention. This invention is not
restricted by any specific embodiment except being limited by the
appended claims.
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